A Gaming Conception
by Marshal Yenom
Summary: When I went to sleep, I didn’t expect to be thrown into someone’s Worm CYOA. I recognized it as the third version, but I don’t remember making this one personally. But there is no time for that. If I hesitate I will age, if I retreat I will die.
1. Chapter 1

A Gaming Conception

When I went to sleep, I didn't expect to be thrown into someone's Worm CYOA. I recognized it as the third version, but I don't remember making this one personally. But there is no time for that. If I hesitate I will age, if I retreat I will die.

**And yet another idea. The quote has no actual meaning for the story at this point in time, just the situation he finds himself in. With that said, let us begin!**

Chapter 1

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was a floating box in blue. Normally I would think I was hallucinating, but something about that thought felt wrong. I KNEW that all of this was real.

**[Welcome to your new world, and the Game of life you play within it. You have no time for a real overview of anything. Your tutorial will be war, your reward is survival. If you hesitate you will age, if you retreat you will die.]**

**[Name: ? (Lv1)**

**Title: none**

**HP: 100**

**Str: 10**

**End: 10**

**Dex: 10**

**Int: 10**

**Wis: 10**

**Luk: 100]**

**[Skills:**

**Gamers Body: allows you to live as a Game character**

**Gamers Mind: allows you to not be crippled by intense emotions and the ability to see System screens**

**Charles Atlas Superpowers: gives peak human stats in physical and mental attributes, and enhanced skill mastery… as long as you train correctly**

**Man of Mystery: makes it almost impossible for your identities to be connected with out your consent and you actions unable to be predicted through supernatural means.**

**Special Snowflake: you are the only 'you' to exist. Your power(s) cannot be copied through any means**

**Plot Armor: your luck is ungodly, so long as it contributes to your continued survival]**

I finished the giant info dump, and not a moment too soon. I really didn't have time to do anything, only recognizing the goblin a moment before it went to attack me. Scrambling to dodge out of the way, I moved faster than I expected. This was obviously due to my boosted stats, but I could tell it would take some time to get used to. While it was off balance, having thrown all its strength into that swing and not meeting the resistance it expected, I punched it. It seemed to be the lowest level of enemy I would find here, so my attack took out half of its health, and another killed it. Five experience for the kill, out of the 150 I need to level up. For drops, I got a few dollars and the rather battered and rusty sword it used. And then I heard a ping.

**[New Skill created**

**Unarmed Combat Mastery (Lv1 7%): your ability in hand to hand combat, this regulates your skill when attacking without a weapon. 3% when attacking without a weapon]**

New skills are always helpful, especially ones for increased damage. Swinging around the sword got me a similar skill for swords in general, which will help me more here. Choosing a single direction, I began to walk. Wandering in every direction would only serve to backtrack, and I had no interest in staying longer than I had to. That got me a quest to escape, reward of 6,000 XP and a random skill. I came across a couple more of those goblins as I walked. These got progressively easier as I gained more experience in killing them. All the items dropped, unless they were better than what I already had, were put into the inventory.

Interestingly, the goblins also had random drops other than what they had on hand. Weapons and armor, those only dropped on enemies that were carrying them before their deaths. I picked up several chunks of metal of some kind, leather, mushrooms, and other random items. My inventory didn't have a limit to what I could carry, so I just grabbed it all.

Killing so many of them, or I assume the exertion of the act, got me a point in strength. I didn't get any other increases, which was understandable. I didn't really need any speed to chop off their individual heads, I didn't get hit any and it didn't take much to kill them, there was no real need for thinking about what I'm doing, given the simplicity.

Actually, intelligence and wisdom don't seem like the stats that I would put too many points into. I had no magic to be affected by them, and as far as I know, I've already gotten to the point where increasing those stats don't help much for anything other than magic. And there is a point in most games where those stats increasing doesn't help much for anything other than magic.

Hearing a clank, I turned around to see another goblin already attacking. I did what I could to dodge, but it didn't work completely. The blade created a long gash, but didn't bleed thanks to Gamers Body. It did take a couple of healt points. Taking its head and killing it, while putting its items into the inventory, I realized I needed to have a way of detecting enemies like that. I still remember the description of the Atlas perk, and the echolocation it talked about.

All I needed to do is make a sound, and listen for the sound bouncing off objects. Simple in theory, probably not so much in reality. I tried it anyway. Clicking my tongue and listening, that's all I did for the next minute. I did, eventually, get the skill for it.

**[New Skill created**

**Echolocation (Lv1 0%): the ability to hear sound waves bouncing off objects, and creating a mental map of the area around you through those sounds]**

This is going to be very useful. Now, I shouldn't have goblins ambushing me like that one did. I was proven wrong a moment later, when I tried the skill and discovered that I couldn't even make sense of what I 'saw' through it just yet. But I continued at it, knowing the value of the skill if I could level it up enough. All I had to do is walk around and listen to the sounds made by any action.

I continued walking along, thinking and making sounds that got progressively outside the hearing range of an average human, but I could hear just fine. I had encountered five goblins in as many minutes, lower than I thought, given the reputation of this city. I knew that had to be my luck coming into play, but it still seemed strange to me. The main advantage these creatures had was mostly in numbers, given an entire cities' worth of people were turned into monsters.

Due to my constant use of the skill, **[Echolocation]** leveled up quickly enough that, by the time I found the next goblin in my path, I could actually use the 'images' it showed me to see instead of my eyes. This time, I found a group of three goblins rather than the lone ones I had been fighting so far. As with the rest, I couldn't seem to sneak up on them, so I just walked to them.

As with the rest of their kind, they rushed at me swinging their swords, and- was that a spear?! Where did it even find such a thing? They seemed to have some concept of teamwork, and quickly surrounded me after I dodged their first strikes. This... could be a problem. When one of them went to swing at me, another tried to make me unable to dodge, having its weapon positioned to hit me if I went in that direction. **[Echolocation]** was a great help, at one point the goblin with the spear tried to stab me in the head, and the ability to see it made it so I could dodge enough to only get a scratch just above my ear instead of being skewered.

After that, I stopped being so cocky, quickly learning just how dangerous these creatures were that they were left alone, other than Cauldron and Contessa plots. What they lacked in skill, they more than made up for in teamwork, and given their numbers, it was a death sentence for most people other than some high-level Capes.

Now that I was actually thinking about the danger, I watched as the creatures moved and what I could tell from their movements, where they were going to attack. This allowed me, in conjunction with **[Echolocation]**, to read their movements somewhat and dodge before they attacked, and out of the way of the attacks from the others at the same time. I ignored the pop-ups, which turned transparent shortly after, and continued the fight.

Being able to tell where my enemies where going to be, even a little bit, helped immensely. I soon took the head of one of the swords wielding goblins, disrupting the others and making them far easier to kill as well. Sitting down on the ground after finishing, I took what these goblins dropped and looked to the sky. Waving at the drone in the sky, I turned towards the notifications I got during the course of the fight.

**[New Skills created**

**Cutting Resistance (2%): your resistance to cutting damage that gets through your Endurance stat. Caps at 95%**

**Eye of the Mind (True) (Lv1 13%): your ability to predict how people will act in a fight, born through battle.**

**Evasion (Lv1 24%): your ability to dodge attacks directed at you.]**

**[New Title unlocked**

**Army of One: in battle, numbers mean little to you. As long as you can defeat each opponent individually, and have the energy to last that long, you will find facing groups of enemies no more difficult than fighting each one back to back.]**

And that Title was quickly equipped. Given my Luck is supposed to be something of a tool to help me survive, I am likely to stumble across more and larger groups of goblins. There seem to be several references to Fate/Stay Night, actually. **[Eye of the Mind (True)]** is a rather obvious example, but my Luck stat is another. In that case, Luck is a person's chance of having unusual things happen to them. Low rank of that stat is the problem, unusual happenings without Luck increasing their chances of getting out alive. And mine is similar, being an increased Luck for anything that will help me survive. And given my circumstances, it will be doing all it can to make me stronger.

After that battle, the next were much easier. It was rather rare, then, to find goblins wandering alone, and those that were, were stronger and gave more XP than the normal ones. It was when I started finding groups of enemies in the tens that I much difficulty. **[Army of One]** says fighting groups of enemies will be no more difficult than one by one, but that isn't entirely accurate. It helps, it really does, but it cannot change the fact that I am fighting multiple enemies, and each one of them can attack whenever they want, including at the same time.

Regardless of that, I alternated using either spear or sword to attack, often holding a shield I took from another goblin to defend myself with. That got me up to levels 7, 8, and 5 in their respective mastery skills. Occasional use of two swords or spears at the same time gave me the **[Dual Wielder] **skill. The skill is, like other mastery skills, a combination of my skill with multiple weapons and a damage modifier of the same. Unlike the other mastery skill, it is not tied to a specific weapon type, but weapons in general, as long as I am using more than one of them at the same time.

Sighting another group of goblins, I decided, in a fit of whimsy, to sneak up on them. It hasn't worked before, but I decided to try again. But first, I would do all I could to make it harder to detect me. Focusing on my lungs and heart, I tried my best to slow both of them. Going slow and being careful of how I stepped, I continued on to them. I managed to get close, right behind one of them, and-

A notification from the system popped up, and I stabbed at it. I killed the goblin in front of me, struck through the heart, and into the battle I went. After killing all of these goblins, I took a look at what my power decided would be important enough to notify me about right then.

**[New Skills created**

**Stealth (Lv1 1%): your ability to go without notice when trying not to be found.**

**Bodily Functions Manipulation (Lv1 2%): your ability to control the different functions your body naturally has.]**

Okay, I can see the use in these. I would have preferred getting the message after finishing the battle, however.

**[Affirmative]**

Huh. I didn't know it could take requests like that, but it seems like it should have been obvious. Continuing on, the **[Bodily Functions Manipulation] **seems to be referencing to the control over your metabolism that **[Charles Atlas Superpowers] **used as an example of something the CYOA perk said I could learn with the right training. The Gamer power obviously speed that up, and I assume my Luck helped with that as well.

Things continued in that manner for the next two hours. The stealthier aspects of my skills were somewhat neglected for the more combat oriented. Indeed, the BFM skill evolved, which they can apparently do after reaching a level threshold specific to that skill, turning it into **[Self Manipulation]**. The original skill was rather limited in its functions, even if they were very useful, so its threshold was lower than it could have been. At this level, I can increase the growth of my hair and such, even moving it to a degree, like a muscle. It took some time to make it grow to a length that would be useful, but I didn't much care how 'girly' it would make me look, and I had plenty of edible food dropped from goblins and the ability to control my metabolism.

Trying to control several groups of my hair at the same time, because the control over it reminded me of something I've read before where the character in question used their hair to hold and use many weapons at the same time, gave me the **[Multitasking]** skill. I couldn't control my hair enough to be able to use it like that yet, and so far I could only keep track of two similar trains of thought at the same time, so it wasn't something I could do right now, but I would soon.

Still, the now almost constant slaughter of goblins got me to level twelve, and distinctly superhuman in all physical stats, enough that my hair is actually strong enough that I could use it as another arm if I could control it well enough. Going by the pattern of the level ups so far, I can safely assume that the equation for XP needed is 150x, where x is my current level. That was rather obvious, given it's been exactly that so far, or similar enough that I haven't been able to think of any other equation that would fit.

I am going for a fairly balanced build, at least on the physical side given what I've already said on the mental side, with a slight focus on speed. I think it is a rather smart choice, all these stats are important, but when fighting enemies with such varied skillsets like Capes, I think the best decision is to just not be there when they attack. Given what I know about guns, my endurance might be enough that the lowest calibers used in a world like this might do ten or so damage before my **[Piercing Resistance] **is applied, I really don't want to test it.

Finally catching sight of the wall in front of me, between a couple buildings, I cursed and praised my Luck. There should be no reason it takes more than two hours to reach the edge of this city. I gained so many new skills, but I had to fight So! Many! Goblins! But, other than that, I started making a plan. I have no identification, so there's no way to pretend to have existed in this world before being dropped into Ellisburg. I don't have any skill for lying, and even if I gain one it will be at the lowest level. While I should be able to remove some of the signs of lying with **[Self Manipulation]**, I don't know how to recreate the signs for truth.

And I have no doubt that will be necessary. There is no chance the PRT would leave a dangerous, S-Class threat that took over a city unmonitored. There was that drone that I waved at, after all. And I am someone who walked out of a city that teams of Parahumans and trained soldiers were slaughtered in, with only two people who survived. I am likely to be given a face-to-face meeting with Alexandria, after as thorough testing as they can put me through, if they don't just kill me immediately. Killing me is unlikely, however, due to both my Luck and Cauldron's need for as many Parahumans as possible for the fight against Scion.

To continue my plan, I made it so my hair was colored blue and would grow that way, made my eyes yellow and able to see better, and changed the shape of my face. It might be basically cosplay, and I doubt the series actually exists in this world, but I thought it was appropriate. Besides, I was watching it before getting sent here, and I am no longer the same person as I was just three hours ago. And if the anime does exist, it'll be something of a reference to an amazing show.

**[Would you like to change your name?**

**Y/N]**

Chuckling a bit to myself, I clicked yes and typed in what I was to be known as, in this new world. As the doors opened, I took one last look at the floating blue screen, and walked in.

**[Name: Rimuru Tempest (Lv12)**

**Title: Army of One**

**HP: 180**

**Str: 19**

**End: 18**

**Dex: 21**

**Int: 11**

**Wis: 12**

**Luk: 100**

**Points to spend: 33]**

**XXXXX**

**And that's the end of the first chapter. I probably shouldn't be making so many of these new stories, even if most of them are likely to never be posted, but I just can't help myself. Now, as I've said above, most of these references mean nothing. I just like where they come from and decided they fit in some way. And I literally finished what I had available of the series he took his appearance from a couple hours before finishing this chapter. I'm going to chalk down that entire scene to that, a lack of sleep, and a couple of parallels my mind made between the two. And the design looks more unique than most I've seen in the Isekai genre, so I decided to use it. **

**Just about all my choices for the CYOA are obvious from reading the story, so I am not going to put them below this Authors Note like I usually would. And since this story has the most references to other media than any others I've posted, I'm going to say here that I don't own anything except maybe the words I have put on the internet, and if anyone on this site says otherwise, I ask you to take a look at the URL.**


	2. Chapter 2

A Gaming Conception

When I went to sleep, I didn't expect to be thrown into someone's Worm CYOA. I recognized it as the third version, but I don't remember making this one personally. But there is no time for that. If I hesitate I will age, if I retreat I will die.

**And here's the second chapter. This is a story that I really like, so it should get at least a couple of chapters. But, regardless of that, it's time to continue the story.**

Chapter 2

I was right on the money with my guess. I have been told that the news of my existence has been leaked, the corruption Cauldron allowed working against them with the subject being something that cannot be Pathed, and thus they couldn't afford to be seen as child murderers when they cannot use Path to Victory to make them look better about the situation. Overconfidence and paranoia abound in worlds-wide conspiracies, to say nothing about my Luck. They probably Could spin it in a way that makes them look better, like say I am some kind of new goblin made by Nilbog, but my Luck held.

I had to take many, _many _tests to make sure I wasn't infected by anything and such, but my powers meant that I couldn't really get sick or infected by anything unless it counted as some kind of disease, or something like that. Right now, I am waiting for someone to get back to me with forms for Wards membership. I do have the appearance of a 10/12-year-old, after all. And I'm not going to fight them, not in these circumstances, and not when I just walked out of the most dangerous city in the country as an unknown.

Surprisingly enough, I haven't been asked any questions as to my memories. I can't tell if they just assume that I am a Case 53, and thus it wouldn't make any difference, or a normal Cape that ran away and changed their appearance with the Self-Biokinesis they know I have. Either way, they didn't ask, and I gave them no reason to. They did ask how I got into the city, but I didn't know myself and told them so.

Besides, even if just sitting around for several days playing with my hair gets boring, it sure helped level up the relevant perks. They even allowed me to spar with one of the troopers yesterday. Sure, I wasn't allowed to kill him and thus didn't get XP from him, but I did get a quest to defeat him without killing. It only gave me a third of what it would have been, including material drops, but that was still more than anything I could have hoped for.

And I lost. These people are soldiers, specifically trained to fight people who may be faster, or stronger, or have superior firepower and range than they do. They aren't the peak of human potential, but they train to fight people like me, and I am only around a Brute 2-3. They may train to fight as a group, but they _can not _slack off when training themselves, for it could mean their death, the death of their comrades, and the fall of their city. We see them, if we ever see them, fighting against the Main Character, which means they have to lose. Then there is Contessa, the 'You lose because I Said So' character of Worm, who supposedly ran a path to have normals always lose to Parahumans. She cannot Precog anything to do with me, so there was no interference to make sure I would win.

In Brockton Bay, the main setting, the Cape scene features monsters such as; a Literal Dragon who is also the Hulk, Vlad-The-Impaler-Turned-Medieval-Knightzi with infinite iron spikes, a Teleporting Serial Suicide Bomber, a Human/Wolf-Shaped Blender, and He Who Can Build **ANYTHING,** once. None of them have low ratings in their categories. The last one might be considered a joke by everyone, but if he wanted to, he could end the world within a day. Is it any wonder they lose with all that against them? And then, one of their own consultants is a bond villain with ambitions to take over the city. The only reason they still have the city either out of the control of villains or not destroyed is because they also fight most of the others or just stay out of things as often or more than they do the PRT and Protectorate.

Even then, I am glad for the XP from the escape quest, enough to give me another level. But the real gem of that quest was the random skill, in this case **[Blacksmithing]**. It is the skill of crafting things out of metal. But it makes no distinction between using a forge and otherwise. As long as I could manipulate the metal well enough to change it into something else, I could use the skill. And given my power seems to work more off of concepts than actual, human skills, as shown with the evolution of my body manipulation skills, I have high hopes for it.

That did little to mitigate my boredom, however. Even the requisite skill, **[Appraisal]**, that was exactly what it sounded like, didn't keep my boredom at bay for long. It is basically the Observe skill seen in most Gamer stories and even the original Web Novel. It is a requisite skill because, as a Blacksmith, I need to be able to tell the quality of the materials I use and the finished product.

In fact, I got so bored I started weaving with my hair. It didn't hurt any, and I could control the individual strands of hair while cutting them off from whatever point I wish. This gave me almost unparalleled control over what it looked like, unequalled save for maybe some interpretations of Parian. Or it would, if I had any actual knowledge of how to make it look how I wanted. As it was, what I had made was basically worthless scraps of differently colored cloth. The skill given, **[Weaving and Tailoring]**, leveled up very quickly, however, given that each strand of hair is being woven together individually. Controlling each of the strands, and so many of them, at the same time was what really leveled up those skills. As it is, I am confident in my ability to use four weapons at once.

I stopped my weaving when I heard a knock on the door. Opening it, I looked out to see a trooper holding the paperwork for, I assume, where I was to be stationed. "Here you go," the trooper said in an almost annoyingly cheerful tone. "After you've finished, there'll be someone else here to bring you to the next area."

Eyeing the sheets of paper I now held, I sighed and got on with it. The very first thing I saw told me what they thought of my circumstances, being the words 'Case 53'. Looking through and signing my new name in the required areas, I also filled out the other sections given, including some of what my powers were. What I put was what I could do in the most basic. 'Analysis and Listing of Attributes,' 'Subspace Storage,' and 'Self-Biokinesis.'

Given my speed and **[Multitasking]**, I could continue working on my weaving while filling out the paperwork. It went a bit slower, considering I couldn't use as many strands individually, but the paperwork was filled out quickly enough and I could use the extra strand that was now available.

XXXXX

A few hours later, I started moving around in the clothes I had just finished. Amazing what almost a day of practice can do, when you have the powers I do. Now I am almost a carbon copy of Rimuru from the anime, except I lack the mask, sword, and my hair reaches the floor. I could keep my hair to the same length as his, but that limits the range I can use my additional weapons with. And while I could just grow and cut my hair each time, that takes time I might not have in battle, and growing my hair takes mass from the rest of my body. If I lack some kind of buffer, which I eat food to store as, then the skill starts cutting into my health. And I don't think I have to say how dangerous that could be.

A knock on the door cut off my thoughts, and I walked over to open it. This time, it is a female trooper at the door. "Please hand me the paperwork." I did as she asked, and she left, coming back soon and without the paperwork. "Now, I am supposed to be bringing you to the testing room. Follow me."

The testing room, apparently number three, was a short distance from the room I had been given for the past few days. Considering the state of the building we're in, I'd take a guess and say that it isn't often occupied by very many people. This isn't a very nice place to be, so it does make sense. That meant that at least a few more people were relocated here, due to me.

The tester was pretty much the caricature of a scientist, brown hair, glasses, lab coat, but instead of a clipboard, he was stationed at a computer.

He looked up from his work as the woman next to me cleared her throat, "Mr. Pruce? This is the Parahuman I was asked to bring you."

He looked at me now. "Yes, thank you, Ms. Anthins. You may leave now."

She looked, or at least her body language given the helmet, a bit unsure. "But, sir..."

He glared a little at her. "Now, Ms. Anthins. He has been perfectly cooperative since he got here. And if nothing else, we have containment foam." She nodded and left the room. He turned to me again, "You say your name is Rimuru Tempest, correct?" When I nodded, he to another chair next to him and continued. "Please, sit. You wrote that one of your powers is 'Analysis and Listing of Attributes,' do you mind explaining further? We like knowing what Capes know they can do before testing, so we know where to start."

I brightened and nodded. "Sure! I can see floating blue screens that tell me things. They say my name, things like Str: 19, Dex: 21, Luk: 100, and skills like **[Blacksmithing**]."

"Hmm, so this floating screen told you, your name is Rimuru Tempest? Never mind, you just said it did. Well, Subspace storage is rather obvious, but do you know what you can't do with it?"

"I can't put animals or people into it, but as long as I can pick something up and push it into the blue screens I can."

He typed that into the computer. "Now, as for your last power, what can you tell me about it? Other than being Biokinesis and limited to yourself, of course."

"I couldn't do much at first, but now I can control my hair, I even made my clothes out of it! I can change the color of my eyes as well. Oh, I can make myself heal faster, but that hurts sometimes unless I've eaten recently. And then I get hungry again."

More typing. "Alright, now we can begin the actual testing. We'll start with observing, as far as we can with the equipment we have here, just how strong you are. This machine here..."

XXXXX

"Now that we've finished the physical portion of your testing, I have some information to give you. I have been told that you are going to be working at Brockton Bay. I have also been permitted to tell you why. You see, years ago, an S-Class Parahuman who called himself Nilbog took over this city. His power was a type of Biokinesis, making him able to turn humans into those goblins you were fighting inside the walls. Dozens of Capes and many squads of PRT were sent to deal with it. Many of the Capes died, and only two of the non-powered soldiers survived. Director Piggot, now head of the ENE PRT, was one of them. The other was Thomas Calvert, now retired and serving as a consultant. Both of them live in that city. The higher ups think it is for the best that you be placed people who can understand."

I slumped a bit at the memories that brought up, pulling my knees to my chest. I didn't really think about it while trying to escape the city, but the realization of what I had done came to me on the first night. They may not have been anymore, but those goblins I killed used to be human beings, once. And I didn't even think about it, didn't have time to think about it, because it was always one enemy after another, one battle to the next. I never even really had two minutes to just sit and think, I was just slaughtering everything in my path for nearly three hours.

And while that is a lot of dead bodies left behind, it's even more frightening to think that Nilbog just didn't care. He has an entire city of disposable minions, and those I killed barely made a dent. Even then, he could just recycle most, or even all of them. And that is why I didn't die. He just didn't care enough about those few deaths, even if they are his children, so I wasn't buried in enemies far stronger than I could deal with.

But regardless, that is still more corpses left in my path than I ever wanted. And humans, especially when we don't live in a death world like Worm, are raised to value human life. I was the same, and it was only instinct, knowing that it was kill or be killed, that kept me going. I started crying again, like I did on the first night. I had pushed these thoughts out of my mind after finally getting to sleep then, distracting myself with other things and forcing myself to go to sleep with my power immediately after getting into bed. And while I know that wasn't a healthy thing to do, I didn't know what I should do, what else I could do.

I felt some one hug me, then. Maybe my emotions regressed along with my body, maybe it was everything that had happened to me in the past five days. I don't know which it was, and I don't really care, either. All I wanted to do was accept the comfort given to me. And so, I hugged them back, even though my arms were too short reach all the way around, and cried into the shirt of the scientist holding me. It took a while, but I did eventually feel better, at least enough to stop crying and wipe my face.

Looking up at him, I gave a watery smile and asked many questions with one word, "Why?"

He gave his own, sad smile, and an answer to several. "I may be a scientist working for the PRT, the people who fight against Capes, and you may be a Cape yourself. But you are also a child. A child, who has no real idea of where he is or what he has been thrust into. A child who's first memories, here, are of fighting for his life against monsters in a body that is not the same as the one he used to have. And then after that, when he was put through almost every test that might tell them if they were going to be allowed to live... or if they were going to be executed for the possibility of unleashing a disease that could wipe out cities. A child with powers, that he used to keep himself alive, to kill creatures that were going to kill him. A child with no parents, no one to take care of him, no way to heal the trauma he went through to survive. A little boy, that reminds me of my son."

**XXXXX**

**And that's the chapter. A bit shorter than I normally would like, but there was no better place to stop that I could use. And basically none of that last scene in the chapter was planned, it took me completely by surprise. The chapter in general is also rather dark in places, which I didn't expect. I shed a few tears myself by the time I finished that last paragraph, and now I feel almost burnt out by all the emotion in it. I do, however, think that this chapter fits better with the source and the story itself than what I had originally planned, even if I have to alter a few things now to fit with the chapter. Oh, and don't expect a chapter for a while now, please. I'm going to have to get back in the mood for writing again, and that might take a while. I did write pretty much every word of both of these chapters on the same day, after all, and the emotion put into writing this one in particular didn't help.**

**The scientist and PRT guard were meant to be, and in the case of the guard will continue to be, minor throwaway characters. For all intents and purposes, Ms. Anthins is just any other PRT soldier in a helmet. Mr. Pruce will develop on his own, as he did here, however I would like to ask anyone who reads this to help me figure out a name for him. There won't be any vote, I'll just go through to see if anyone has either commented or messaged me and chose one I like.**

**On Rimuru. He is going to be different from the character he is based off, at least for the duration of this story. He is currently ten years old, and didn't get past the age of 15 before this happened. I do have ideas for sequels in mind, using Victory Conditions and then something from that setting to continue.**

**As a final note, there will be plenty of things that aren't canon with the Web Serial. More specifically is my interpretation of several things, mostly dealing with what I've said about Brockton Bay and the PRT. My decision to have the PRT more individually competent, or at least seeming so, is due a lot to the narrator being first person and rather low-powered compared to most Capes we see. If he has Eye of the Mind Lv3, than that trooper had it as level 10. That is the sort of thing they need to survive. We don't see it work, in my interpretation of canon, because the enemies we see them go up against are very good themselves, and/or not allowed to lose. Rimuru was rather arrogant, and forgot that even if his opponent was weaker, their job was to fight people who would often be even stronger than he is. The thing about a power like the Gamer is that it takes time to set up. He's had it for about five days, of which he only spent about three hours fighting and training.**


	3. Chapter 3

A Gaming Conception

When I went to sleep, I didn't expect to be thrown into someone's Worm CYOA. I recognized it as the third version, but I don't remember making this one personally. But there is no time for that. If I hesitate I will age, if I retreat I will die.

**And here's the third chapter. Thanks to Fraukage for their review, they got me back into the mood to write just after I woke up. It is nice, seeing that there are people who like my story enough to help me with things like this. And now, onto the story.**

Chapter 3

The next time I woke up, it was to a new room. Then I remembered what happened. After I had finished bawling my eyes out into Mr. Pruce's shirt, I fell asleep again. I may have the Gamer power, but regardless of what my Endurance stat might say, I still can't go on forever without sleep. And even if I could, I have the body of a ten-year-old, and I was exhausted mentally rather than physically.

So, it was decided that they would transfer me to Brockton Bay, which wasn't very far away, and into my room in the Wards area. They woke me when they needed to, so there weren't too many difficulties. I also learned that Mr. Pruce works here, and volunteered for going to Ellisburg because he knew what happened with his director and found my case interesting.

The mental tests, what I know education wise and what I still need to learn, are going to be taking place later today. This is apparently standard for Case 53's that join the Wards, if they look human enough to not scare other students when out of costume. It gives them a chance to learn about the world and make friends, which has been proven to help their mental state. These tests can give a ridiculous variety of results, someone told me that there was once a C53 that looked like a four-year-old ranked well enough to get into college.

There was a knock on my door, and another PRT agent, male this time, brought in the tests, along with a few pencils and erasers. Handing them off to me, he says, "Here you go. These tests don't need to have you change rooms; however, the computer is locked until you have finished, and you are being monitored for cheating beyond the bounds of possible unknown Thinker powers." I thanked him, and sat down at my desk to complete the tests.

XXXXX

Having finished the tests a couple of minutes ago, I started working on my **[Blacksmithing]** skill. My current project is to recreate the sword used by the slime while in human form. That wasn't going to well. I have the strength to twist and bend the metal, but I can't heat those broken swords enough to melt together or something like that. I have more success with the metal that some of those goblins dropped, but I have no way to sharpen those blades. Then again, that's probably a good thing. So long as I can control my strength, that means I won't cause as many injuries as I would with sharp edged blades. I'll use those, being pretty much sword shaped metal poles, as the weapons held in my hair. I would like to have a sharpened blade to hold in my hand.

The PRT agent came back shortly after to collect my tests and hand them in. Another agent, who arrived with the first, took me to meet the PR person here in Brockton Bay. He decided to make a bit of small talk, and I saw no reason to refuse.

"The Public Image person for Brockton Bay is Garret Diggory. The overall head of that division is Glenn Chambers, but he's based in New York, so you won't see him unless you get transferred there."

'_heh, there goes that cliché. While the use of it is understandable, it doesn't really make sense that every character, no matter how unimportant, would be seen by the Head of the Public Image division when there are more people than just him working the same job.' _I thought to myself.

"Garret is a bit odd, but... oh! We're here! I'll just, stand outside, okay?" He pushed me into the room and closed the door without waiting for an answer.

Looking around the room, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. There was a desk and several chairs, a couple of pictures, a computer, the basics you would expect to find in any ordinary office, but I couldn't see Mr. Diggory anywhere. And then someone spoke up from behind me, and I jumped onto the ceiling. "Hello mister Rimuru. It is a pleasure to meet you. Sit, would you?" I used **[Echolocation] **and found that, yes, the PRT agent that led me here was still outside the door and that Mr. Diggory really did just sneak up on me. In addition, he feels rather... unsettling. I dropped back down to the floor and sat down.

**[New Skill created**

**3D Maneuvering (Lv1 0%): your ability to make use of the third physical dimension as you move around]**

"You are a rather curious case. One of the most human looking Case 53s I have even heard of, however, you lack genitalia. You also appear not to produce waste, and lack the tattoo. Do you know what happened to it, or did you never have one in the first place?" He eyed me curiously.

"That weird blue C? I removed it. It didn't seem to be doing anything." And I was telling the truth here. I had tattooed it to myself with my powers instead of Cauldron, but I did have one at one point and I did remove it.

"Is that so? Very well then. Now, about your costume…"

I interrupt him here. "Ah, can I make it out of my hair?" The… Consultant? I never really asked what his shorter title would be. He looked rather bemused at my question. "It's just, my hair is part of me so it's just as strong as the rest of me, and I can control it and make it into a shield if I need to. You can test it, if it helps!" I gave him one of the scraps of cloth that I failed to make into clothes a few days ago. As a further demonstration, I quickly recreated one of the outfits worn by my source character.

A sort-of short, fur lined gray overcoat on top of a white shirt, the sleeves ending above my elbows. Brown cloth wrappings starting below my elbows, thus separated from my sleeves, and ending around my wrists. Brown cloth tied like a belt at the end of the shirt, and the start of what looks like a cut off part of the overcoat. Attached to the belt is the sheath for the sword I plan on holding myself. Under the waist coat, there were baggy black pants, tucked into boots colored the same light brown as the arm wraps and belt. I then unwove the waist coat and remade it into the shield I was talking about earlier, then back into the clothing. And it only took me five seconds for it all.

It has to be understood that **[Multitasking] **does not have to be used on small, separate things. I can control a number of strands, even with only one thought process. I just can't control each of them individually unless I use several processes. And I can move between processes very quickly. My hair can move very quickly as well, so it doesn't take long to weave together things I know. And I have created both of those items before, so I didn't have to think about how it would look so much as remember. And so, filling a template like that was simple. Of course, making an entire set of clothes that quickly bit into my health some, but it wasn't too bad and has already regenerated. Of course, due to **[Gamers Body]** damage such as that won't show. None of it will, unless pieces of me get removed. That has happened, but I always regenerate without scratch nor scar.

"Remarkable. We will need to test your claims, of course, but I expect we'll find that what you said is accurate." He took a look at the clothes I made. "Hmm, those might work as your costume." He saw the confusion on my face and answered me, "Most Capes follow themes, and their costumes will follow as well. Alexandria is a stern, no nonsense woman, Legend is the bright, charismatic man of lasers and a true Hero. Normally, something this simple wouldn't be allowed, but it fits your theme. Your powers seem to be anything a normal human could do, as their starting point. You have been known to have escaped Ellisburg, as did two non-Capes. You are going to be an example that the 'Monstrous Capes,' as C53's are often called, are human as well.

As a Case 53, you have no secret identity. We are going to take advantage of that, so while in PR events you will not be wearing a mask, to continue the theme. Outside of that, of course, you will have a greater leniency for any mask you wish to design than most affiliated Capes would. Again, it will have to be run past us, but that shouldn't be a problem, correct?" I quickly shook my head and agreed. "Good, good. Now, onto how you will act during PR events."

XXXXX

"Annnd, there. Finally," creating the anti-demon mask was more complicated than I expected when I started. Having it as just metal wasn't comfortable, so I had to figure a way to have cloth attached to the inside of the mask, where it would be sitting on my face. Weaving around the lines that qualified as eye holes was simple, if unnecessary. I like having normal sight at all times, however, so I did just that. I have no way of knowing what the red dot in the middle of the original is made of, so I just fed some strands through and recreated it like that. Of course, it has none of the properties attributed to it in the anime, but that isn't what it was meant for. I made it to have it and, if allowed by the PR person/people, to wear when not at events they want me to keep it off for.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. Opening it, I saw Mr. Pruce and quickly stepped to the side. "Hello. Not to be rude, but what are you doing here?"

He sat down in the chair I gave him, and I took another for myself. "I'm here to tell you about the solution to the guardianship issue."

I remember this. Because all Case 53's found by the PRT are classified as minors in their civilian identities, due to the amnesia and thus lack of world knowledge found in adults, they are given guardians from among the PRT, as most people who work in positions not under that banner are considered not having enough experience to take care of a Parahuman that they haven't raised themselves. And I was dropped into this world without the background knowledge necessary to pass as not being a C53. And I know that the body I have is messing with my emotions and such, so I agree with the practice.

"But aren't the PRT troopers usually the ones sending messages like this?" I asked him.

"Yes and no. In more tame cities, like New York, they have regular office workers who are sent to do things like you've seen the past few days. Cities classified as above a certain danger level, as in Brockton Bay and Ellisburg are, have soldiers replacing those workers. There are scientists in every city, for obvious reasons, but even then they tend to have some measure of combat training in those dangerous cities." I pouted at him. Chuckling, he continued, "In answer to your actual question, shouldn't I be the one to ask you to accept being adopted as my son?"

And then I was hugging him again, my chair forgotten and clattering to the ground.

XXXXX

Needless to say, I accepted. My name is now Rimuru Pruce, and even if it isn't as much of a reference to one of my favorite characters, I don't care. Everything that has happened means I am more attached than just being physically ten would make me. My new father, whose full name is Albion 'Alby' Pruce, told me he did talk to his wife before making that decision, so I should be fine there. And it's not as though I lost the name Tempest, it's now going to be my Cape name. The name used to have been used by a small time villain in Georgia, but he died about a month ago so it was up for grabs. I just got to it before anyone else did.

Now, it's time for me to meet the rest of the Wards. The only reason I haven't yet is because it's only been a day and it was early in the morning and into school hours, so they just haven't been here. I am a bit nervous on how they'll react to me, but I am also exited. These people will be the first actual Superheroes that I've met. Alexandria doesn't count, working for Cauldron like she does.

To keep with my child-like theme, I was kneeling on the couch in the living room, peeking over the back and watching the door. It didn't take long for them to arrive, and I disregarded the alarm for people who may not know the identities of Capes inside the room. The first thing I noticed was the absence of Shadow Stalker, which I was glad for. I didn't want to deal with her on my first meeting with the Superheroes I am going to be working with. As they walked in, I heard Aegis telling the others about what I assume is some information he has on me.

"… a Case 53, so they might not look entirely human."

As he finished speaking, I stood up and faked a pout. "Hey! That isn't very nice." But I could see the amusement in his eyes, and I could tell he meant no harm. Besides, floor length blue hair, eyebrows and eyelashes colored the same, and yellow/gold, almost honey colored eyes aren't exactly normal anyway, so he isn't wrong.

Vista ran over to me and started gushing. "She's so cute!"

It isn't possible, but I know if I was in an anime I would be sweat dropping right now. "Ah, miss Vista? I'm not a girl."

That snapped her out of it, and she glared at all of us. "If you tell anyone…" she didn't finish, but it was still a threat. And I broke down laughing. A moment later, everyone else did as well.

After I got myself back under control, I started introductions. "Hello, my name is Rimuru Pruce. It's nice to meet you."

"Aegis, or Carlos out of costume. Same"

"Gallant, Dean. Pleasure." He sounded a bit distant. Maybe he can't read my emotions, and it's bothering him?

"Are you sure you're not a girl?" I used some of my hair to slap him. "Huh? Uh, Clockblocker or Dennis."

"Kid Win or Chris. How did you do that? You didn't even move your head." He seems rather exited. I looked pointedly at Vista, and he nodded.

"Vista, or Missy Biron," this was said with some distaste for the second name. "Aren't you the one who…" She trailed off as she realized what she was asking.

I clapped my hands. "Okay, let's sit down and I can answer some questions," they did as lead, and started asking.

The first person to ask something was Missy, "Why is your hair so long?"

I smiled and made a decent ballroom imitation, with the dancers as puppets floating in the air, made of my hair. "I am a Changer, and I can control my hair. I can even change its color, and make clothes out of it. In fact, I've been allowed to make my costume out of it." I switched out my normal clothes for the same costume I made in Mr. Diggory's office, with a slight alteration. Because my color seems to be blue, they had me change the color of the pants into a dark blue instead of black.

Carlos was the one to speak up next. "How did you get that past regulations?" Was said incredulously.

"It fits my theme, and what I make is almost as strong as steel. Certainly stronger that the regular material you wear as costumes." I said proudly.

Chris was next. "How did you switch clothes? Did you teleport them?"

I smile and shrug. "Sort of. I have a Subspace I can put things in. It calls itself an Inventory. Or at least, another part of my power calls it Inventory. I used that, so you could say it was teleported." They accepted this. I guess it wasn't the strangest thing they've heard of when it come to Capes.

Now it was Dean's turn to ask a question. "Why can't I detect you?"

I faked considering the question, since I thought on it earlier, and answered him. "It might be one of the **Skills **I started with? It's called **[Man of Mystery]**, and part of the description is 'powers designed to ferret out anything about your motives, your identity, your past, or your future actions automatically fail.' It might just make your power read me as nothing more than a piece of furniture, because emotions can be a persons motivation. The identity bit has already been subverted, but everything else should work."

I don't think they even heard the last bit. Their only response was a resounding 'Eh!'

**XXXXX**

**Okay, and now that's the third chapter done and dusted. I did read their interludes before writing them, so I hope what little that they've done so far matches their canon characterization. I believe Gallant would be more distant with someone he couldn't read, due to some amount of dependency that I think it makes sense for him to have on his power. He can still hit me with the emotion blast, and they'll still work, because that doesn't clash with Man of Mystery.**

**On Man of Mystery, I toned it down a bit. Instead of debilitating pain, I just made it so Thinker powers, other than enhanced senses and such, read him as not existing. He does have allies with powers like that, after all, and I'd prefer not to make it impossible for Gallant to work with my character.**


	4. Chapter 4

A Gaming Conception

When I went to sleep, I didn't expect to be thrown into someone's Worm CYOA. I recognized it as the third version, but I don't remember making this one personally. But there is no time for that. If I hesitate I will age, if I retreat I will die.

**And now for the fourth chapter. I really like this story, so I hope it lasts. Onto the story!**

Chapter 4

"You are the same child who walked out of Ellisburg, correct?" The interviewer asked.

"Yup. The PRT wasn't happy with him, that's for sure. Just because I am a Case 53 doesn't mean that was the only possibility. I had to go through a lot of tests, but they were nice about it." Incidentally, that isn't entirely true. They were more scared than nice, but I understand.

That line of questioning ended, and they moved on to a new topic. "And what are your powers?"

And this question is one of many that I have been told how to answer. "I can learn Skills that any normal person can learn, at the lowest usage level, after preforming relevant actions. My power allows me to see what Skills I know and how close I am to mastering them, along with a description of what they can do. And then I train those Skills and learn more about them faster than anyone else can, until I train them past what humans can achieve without powers."

The interviewer nodded. I guess mine is a much more straightforward power than many. However, my explanation was drastically short on details. I guess it's to be expected, the PRT is part of the government, after all. "Can you give us an example?"

I smiled happily, perfectly content to play up the role of a cheerful child. "Sure! I can control my hair, see?" I split my hair into several groups and had them 'wave' to the cameras. "When I got it, I could just slow my breathing, slow my heartbeat, things like that. Then I kept using it, so it leveled up and allowed me to control the growth of my hair and move it around like I showed you."

"Thank you. This has been Terry Caitwal, introducing the newest member of the Brockton Bay Wards, the child who walked out of Ellisburg, Tempest."

XXXXX

"That was rather well done, for your first appearance to the media. Left them thinking they know what you can do, while having virtually no knowledge on what you can't do." Mr. Diggory praised me. "Good job with the 'growing child' vibe as well. Another skill?"

I nodded. **[Body Language]** is a skill that allows me to broadcast certain feelings. I looked it up and created the skill to help Dean. He may not be able to read me with his power, but it should help him to be able to read me even without it.

"Very well then. Now, it's time for you to go on patrol. Shoo, shoo!"

XXXXX

Currently, Aegis, Vista, and I are wandering around the Boardwalk. Not exactly what I'd prefer while on patrol, since I was thinking about less safe routes. I may hate killing, but I do like fighting. I know at least part of it is so the PRT can tell the Youth Guard they are not the sort of people who send children to fight criminals. The PRT in general have been a lot more competent than in canon for a single reason. Large, dramatic, _energy intensive _displays of force from Scion ever since his first Endbringer battle.

As far as I could tell, For Want of a Nail was bought for that purpose. Cauldron has apparently known about Scion's lack of energy, and so while still corrupted, the system is much better. In fact, while there were revealed to be more after the first one was killed, none of the Endbringers are still alive, except for Leviathan, who just barely escaped with his life in the last attack. Scion hasn't been seen for a couple of weeks now, and as far as I can tell Cauldron has mostly backed off from interfering, at least on Bet.

That means moral has been very high, because there has been a rotation already and no new gigantic monstrosity has reappeared. Sure, there's still one left, but people know by now that it isn't an impossible battle. Very, very difficult, yes, but it can be won.

Right now, all I'm doing is talking to people. There are some asking for autographs, but most of that is being directed at my fellow Wards. And I'm fine with this. The next one to come up to me was a child, a girl about nine-ish years old. She started of with a question, surprisingly the first time anyone has ever asked me directly.

"Why don't you have a mask?" She was curious, and Mr. Diggory had expected the question to be asked long before now.

"I do have a mask." I pretended to pull it out of a pocket on the inside of my jacket, really just grabbing it from my inventory. "See? But a picture of my face is already on the internet, so I don't have to wear it all the time."

Looking down at the mask, and then at her, I got an idea. "Here, you can have it." I handed it to her.

"Really?!" She looked at the mask now in her hands.

"Sure! I can always make another, and it's not like it's Tinker-tech. Put it on, it looks like it should fit well enough," and it did. It might be a little to big, but that wasn't a problem. She ran back to her mother, yelling a thank you over her shoulder.

I started working with some metal I have, making another right then and there. The basic shape of the mask is simple. The more complicated bit comes in when shaping it to fit my face, and smoothing out the little bumps and ridges that come from making the mask with my hands. **[Blacksmithing] **helps out, however, and the creation of the mask only takes a couple of minutes altogether.

We continued walking and showing the flag, so to speak. It wasn't very interesting work, but it was somewhat important.

XXXXX

A few days later, and we're traveling along one of the more dangerous routes. A decent chance of running into gang members, especially Merchants, but very low chance of finding enemy Capes.

Currently, it's just me and Vista patrolling. No clue how that was allowed, years of experience on her part and my record of slaughtering hundreds of goblins? No matter how it happened, I don't mind. Vista seems to have taken me under her wing, after the initial mistaken gender incident. I guess having a Ward member younger than her on the team led to her acting like something of a big sister to me.

My **[Echolocation] **found a group of four Merchants, their appearance being rather distinctive, with a collection of weapons. One has a gun, a pistol a bit on the smaller side, another has a knife, the third a rusty pipe (how cliché can you get?), the last one having no weapon except for his fists. They were surrounding a fifth person, and the one without a weapon had a syringe in his hands. They had the random teenager backed up to a wall, and it was obvious that he was not here willingly.

I relayed all this to Vista who, being more experienced, was the leader here. She further relayed it all to the console, and they would then tell her whether we were clear to act or not. She would then tell me yes or no, and then I can act in one way or another. If the situation is more dire, we can decide on a course of action on our own to save the lives of others. However, that is very much discouraged, at least until we have trained with and know how to work with our fellow Wards, so don't get in each other's way.

Right now, according to a handbook given to us upon joining, we are to wait until further orders unless the Merchants get further than threats. It's much better than many interpretations of the organization in fanfiction, so that's something I'm glad for. It might not be the best system, I don't know what would be in a Superhero setting like this, but it makes sense and is simple enough to follow.

Vista gave the okay, and so I dropped down into the alleyway, grabbing the gun out of the hands of the criminal along the way. I landed just above the ground, on a platform provided by the **[3D Maneuvering]** after I leveled it up some, before falling the extra inch to the ground. I don't know if me falling from that height would have damaged the ground or not, but I don't need to cause collateral damage.

This is a rather simple, but highly effective tactic. By this point, I have nothing to worry about against these enemies. Neither the pipe nor the knife can actually hurt me, and the gun is already stored in my inventory. Vista is rather limited in close combat, so she'll 'just' be making the space around us into her own personal castle of Play-Doh. The teenager ran away after I dropped in, so I don't have to worry about him.

"Please come quietly, and I'll leave you to the police." My voice is muffled due to the mask, but still plenty understandable. I sighed as they didn't listen, charging at me to attack. Lengthening eight strands of hair, each gang member were tied up by two. One wrapping their arms to their torsos, the other wrapping their legs together. My regeneration rate already outpaces the slight drain that puts on my health, so wasn't very difficult.

As Vista stopped making the universe cry, I pulled out my phone and started calling the police. These aren't Parahumans, so we had no authority to hold them in cells. And now we just wait. After giving our statements to the police, I collected the strings, and we left to continue out patrol.

XXXXX

By the time we finished, we had found no other crimes in progress. Once back to base, we started on the debrief.

Vista started speaking. "Okay, for all this was supposed to be a more dangerous route, it wasn't really any more difficult than that pursue snatcher the last time you visited the Boardwalk."

I smiled at that. That was a funny moment. The thief almost literally ran into me. When he noticed me standing there, he just sat down to wait for the police, saying he knew he had no chance to escape.

She continued, her tone a bit questioning. "You did well overall, but you should have taken the knife and pipe from them as well."

"Ah, neither of them were a danger to me, so I didn't think I needed to." I looked down a bit.

"It's okay, that's what this is for. No one got hurt, so learn from this. What if there were more people, or if he hadn't ran away, those are the sort of things we have to think about." I looked back up and gave Missy a hug.

XXXXX

After leaving the building, I went back home with Mr- with my father. It's weird thinking that, but not unpleasant. There is also the oddity of my power not registering the name change from the adoption, but I guess it doesn't care about the legal name, just the one I chose.

When I first entered the house, I was a bit surprised at how, basic it is. It's not a bad house by any means, it's actually quite nice. I just expected a little more from a PRT scientist. I do think this is better than some giant, cold building. Dinner is always eaten in silence, and I have an idea why. I haven't come up with the courage to ask about it just yet, but I certainly won't ask during dinner.

After we all finished eating, it was time to go to sleep.

XXXXX

After school, with me being in high school due already knowing what is taught in middle school, I went to the HQ to meet up with the other Wards. Today, I was going on a more dangerous route than last time. Coming along with me are Aegis and Gallant. The route has a low-middle chance for meeting an enemy Cape, but a high chance of finding people committing crimes. I am being allowed to go because I have proven a surprising degree of competence, especially for a new Case 53, and because two more experienced Heroes are going along with me.

And a high chance of criminals is correct! A half an hour in and we've already captured and given two groups, plus a number of single people committing various crimes, of them to the police. Applying the advice Vista gave me, every time we came across a criminal with a weapon, after getting the signal to continue, I grabbed the weapons out of their hands with those strings and put them into my inventory.

The rate of capture slowed down for a bit, until we came across a slightly larger group at the hour and a half point. Getting the all clear again, I dropped down and took all their weapons. Something was a bit strange here. Normally, as long as they aren't Merchants, when I do that, they either try to run away, or they try to attack me. In both cases, Aegis will drop in from flying and Gallant will hit them with blasts of Calm.

This time, they seemed rather arrogant, just standing there and laughing. Taking a closer look at them, I noticed they all had the look of the E88. Looking at their victims behind me, who were both African-American, I put the pieces together.

"Both of you! Get out of here!" I yelled at them. They scrambled to follow my orders, and started running away. I started using **[Echolocation] **very quickly, and noticed they didn't have time to get away. Not with Hookwolf on a collision course directly for them.

His name isn't very imaginative, but it is accurate. He could project blades and hooks and such from his body, mostly just using them to create a somewhat wolf-like living blender of metal. Suboptimal, compared to what he can really do, but I won't argue and enemy giving up an advantage. Either way, I am not going to just let him kill these people. While rushing towards Hookwolf, I relayed my actions to console.

Aegis flew down and punched Hookwolf in the back, sending him to the ground. I stood directly in front of the enemy Cape, waiting for the victims to escape before making my move. I pulled four swords from my inventory to be grabbed by my hair, and a fifth from the sheath on my back to be held by my hand. I had managed to get a lot of the swords I made sharpened, thanks to Armsmaster. I may not be a true Tinker, but **[Blacksmithing]** had already progressed to the point I was given a Tinker 0 classification. My mask and weapons are much sharper and stronger than they have any right to be.

Gallant tried to hit Hookwolf with a blast of Calm, knowing there wasn't much he could do against the Brute otherwise, but that just made him angrier. Being the first one he saw when he picked himself off the ground, Hookwolf rushed at me. Faster than I expected, but not so fast I couldn't keep up. I deflected many of his attacks with the swords I held, but one got through after I tried to block with the arm that I don't have holding a weapon, and severed my left arm under the elbow. That was a surprise, I guess he is not made of normal metal, but I could deal with it.

Gallant rounded up and calmed down the gang members, knowing there was nothing he could do here. Aegis knocked Hookwolf away, distracting him so I could reform my arm. Picking it up, it dissolved into a light blue liquid and traveled down what was left of my arm, reforming from there. It is, after all, still a part of me so I can still do things like that with it. Taking off a limb like that makes me lose roughly a sixth of my total health, but that reforming like that bypasses my regeneration and brings that portion of health back.

Heading back into the fight, I started supporting Aegis. After my Dex stat reached level 50, currently being in the 60's, I gained the skill **[Afterimage]**, which made split second clones that could take a single action. Somewhat similar to the RWBY character Blake's Semblance. The only reason Hookwolf landed that hit is because my goal wasn't dodging him, but as a distraction. Really, right now I'm just playing with him, bouncing him across the open area we are in with my speed and clone things.

And that is the difference between the Gamer and the normal powers Capes are given. It is unfair, but the Gamer is very much a power based on momentum and set up. And I've had two weeks to train and spar with other Capes. The Gamer, like other Worm powers, grows with combat. Charles Atlas Superpowers is also an unfair cheat, especially when it comes to a setup power like the Gamer. Besides, it's always a good thing to punt a neo-Nazi around a bit.

**XXXXX**

**And that's the chapter. Yes, For Want of a Nail was purchased. The specific change was that Scion runs out of energy about a week before I arrive. Then I had to create a situation where that would take place, which led to this. He decided not to hold back, as much, against the Endbringers and started killing them. He also fought and killed each of them in very flashy ways, which wasted a lot of power.**

**This story is not meant to be very long. Right now, it has been about two weeks from start to the end of this chapter, and pretty much the day before what would have been Taylor's Trigger Event, which won't be happening here. It is a more street-level story, and not much about those battles against the giant, near invincible enemies. I imagine it will end shortly after Leviathan has been killed.**

**Oh, and since I forgot to say last chapter, ****t****he image isn't mine, but this is what I used for his costume, plus that little change in color.**

**As for stats for things, Worm powers go up to 100. Alexandria's durability is here, her strength is 90. Leviathan has a speed of 80, the Siberian is 'undefined' because it breaks physics. Every 50 points in a stat, it gets a lot harder to level it up by training, because the difference in the effects of those are increased a lot due to the related skills received every 50 points. Not quite exponential, but it took him almost a week to get from within the 50's to in the 60's range using the Cape grade equipment the PRT could provide.**

**Edit: I would to make the next chapter a PHO reaction on everything that has happened since Rimuru has appeared. Can someone help me with this? I know about the Myrridin program, but I am not entirely sure how to write it.**


	5. PHO Interlude

**AN: beware of somewhat major spoilers for the future, the last chapter or two for this story.**

Welcome to the Parahumans Online message boards.

You are currently logged in, **Blue_Slime**

You are viewing:

• Threads you have replied to

• AND Threads that have new replies

• OR private message conversations with new replies

• Thread OP is displayed.

•Tenposts per page

• Last ten messages in private message history.

• Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.

**Topic:Not**** a Goblin**

**In: Boards**** Capes American**

**Bagrat**(Original Poster)(The Guy in the Know)(Veteran Member)

Posted On Dec 18th 2010:

So, everyone knows about the kid that walked out of Ellisburg covered in blood? We've all seen that picture the PRT leaked. Good news, the PRT has declaired him, the kid, as not some new monster created by Nilbog, but a Case 53 that fought their way out. Nor infected by some biotinkered disease.

Here's the picture, for those who haven't seen it.

**(Showing page 17 of 24)**

**Acree**

Replied On Dec 24th 2010:

Look, the PRT made their press release, and even had Tempest introduce himself on television. Sure, it was just him repeating what the PRT told him to, but the PRT wouldn't let him out of containment if he was a danger to civilians, especially not in this city. Stop calling him one of Nilbog's creatures.

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**(Temp-banned)

Replied On Dec 24th 2010:

I still think that "he" is a she. Look at her! Does she look like a boy to you? Besides, her hair can be controlled, right? It's like her own personal hentai.

This user has been banned for this post.

-They have already said that he is male, and he is 10 years old -Tin_Mothee

**Blue_Slime**(Verified Cape)(Wards ENE)

Replied On Dec 24th 2010:

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**, Um, but I am a boy. I don't have any of the physical indicators for gender, but I identify as male...

**bothad**

Replied On Dec 24th 2010:

Void, Dude! He called you OUT! And that's disgusting

**Acree**

Replied On Dec 25th 2010:

**Blue_Slime**, what's up with you not wearing a mask? I thought all Capes were supposed to.

**Blue_Slime**(Verified Cape)(Wards ENE)

Replied On Dec 25th 2010:

**Acree**, Normally they do, to protect their identity. But my face is all over the internet. I've already told this to that little girl, have you not seen any picture or video of that?

Incidentally, I won't just be handing out masks to anyone that askes. I just felt like it at the time.

**Aloha**

Replied On Dec 25th 2010:

Hey look! Tempest is a nice kid, see? Here's a picture of him giving his mask to that other kid.

Edit: ninja'd by the Cape himself.

**Antigone**

Replied On Jan 8th 2011:

Hey everyone! The last Endbringer is dead! Killed by Tempest! Start the party!

**XxVoid_CowboyxX**

Replied OnJan 8th 2011:

Hahahahaha! Leviathan, the Endbringer of the seas, killed by swimming! Hahahahaha!

**End of Page. 1, 2, 3...15, 16, 17, 18, 19... 22, 23, 24**

**Topic:Saved by Tempest**

**In: Boards Capes America**

**Chilldrizzle**(Original Poster)

Posted On Dec 31st 2010:

Me and my husband were walking in a bad part of the city, and being racial minorities, were attacked by the E88! But we were save by the new ward Tempest!

I even have a video of the fight.

**(Showing page 1 of 2)**

**Deimos**

Replied On Dec 31st 2010:

Are there even any 'good' parts of this city?

**Brocktonite03**(Veteran Member)

Replied On Dec 31st 2010:

**Deimos**, Yes, there's the Boardwalk and, uhhh, I think that's it, actually.

**Acree**

Replied On Dec 31st 2010:

Never mind that, did he get his arm chopped off?!

**BadSamurai**

Replied On Dec 31st 2010:

**Acree**, Yes, it looks like it. However, we can see that it turns into a blue... something... and reforms after he picks it up. After that, he starts playing pinball with one of the most dangerous capes in the city. Does he get stronger after being injured?

**Blue_Slime**(Verified Cape)(Wards ENE)

Replied On Dec 31st 2010:

**Badsamurai**, No, I didn't get any stronger. I couldn't move from where I was, because I was trying to be a distraction so Chilldrizzle could escape. After Aegis knocked him away from me, I decided Mrs. Chill was far enough away that I could focus on the fight. And it was more ripped off than actually cut.

**bothad**

Replied On Jan 1st 2011:

So, are they just going to send out the little kid after capes like that? Cus he dealt with old Hooky better than anyone else here.

**Miss Mercury**(Protectorate Employee)

Replied On Jan 1st 2011:

**Bothad**, No we will not. He wasn't supposed to find Hookwolf, not on that route. He will be limited to safer routes for the time being. He is, and sometimes acts like, the 10 year old that he looks like. We will not allow a child to fight violent murders just because he can.

**Blue_Slime**(Verified Cape)(Wards ENE)

Replied On Jan 1st 2011:

**Miss Mercury**, do you remember what I said about my luck? I hope otherwise, but it might be that none of us have a choice.

**Answer Key**

Replied On Jan 1st 2011:

'Your luck?' What are you talking about?

**End of Page. 1**

**(Showing page 2 of 2)**

**Blue_Slime**(Verified Cape)(Wards ENE)

Replied On Jan 1st 2011:

**Answer Key,** one of the skills I had to begin with was called Plot Armor. Anything and everything that makes me better able to survive can happen.

**Answer Key**

Replied on Jan 8th 2011:

Like, for example, killing **Leviathan **with a swimming skill? [dryer than the Sahara]

**End of Page. 1, 2**


	6. Chapter 5

A Gaming Conception

When I went to sleep, I didn't expect to be thrown into someone's Worm CYOA. I recognized it as the third version, but I don't remember making this one personally. But there is no time for that. If I hesitate I will age, if I retreat I will die.

**And this is the final chapter for this story. I'll be sad to see it go, but it was never meant to be long. This chapter takes place a week after the last, mostly. I don't know how to go about writing the Legend speech, so that will be glossed over. Now, to start the chapter.**

Chapter 5

I wake up to the sound of an alarm. The tone of it tells me that we are being attacked by the last Endbringer. I got ready to fight all that I could. I brought out my best equipment, weapons and armor made using the actual processes, got my skills ready. And finally, equipped the second Title I ever received.

**[Heart Seeker: deal 100% of enemy health as damage when hitting the heart of an enemy]**

My father entered the room as I was about to leave. "Rimuru! We're going to the Shelter!"

I smiled sadly at him. "I cannot. I need to protect my home."

Father looked at what I had prepared, and started crying. "No! I can't have another son die! I can't, I can't." He broke down sobbing.

I walked over to kneel down beside him, and gave him a hug. "Hey, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. Get yourself and Mom to safety, Dad." He began to pick himself up, and I continued leaving. "I'm sorry, but I have to protect you both, and the rest of this city."

XXXXX

Right now, every Cape from what seems to be just about everywhere are all gathered in one area. Somewhat surprising that some aren't killing others, but this is the last Endbringer, and people want it dead more than the other Capes around them. I listened with half an ear to the speech Legend gave, but didn't catch all of it. There was the 'last Endbringer' the 'Scion is missing' bits, things like that, but I disregarded it all as unimportant. My focus was what my **[Echolocation] **could tell me about Leviathan's presence. He is currently not within my range, but I should be able to keep up once he is. My Dex stat is at 76, and from what I can remember my speed is close to his. Hypersonic, but my **[Echolocation] **no longer uses sound waves.

I saw the tsunami well before I heard it. Vision is further distance than my other senses, after all. And there, riding the wave, was Leviathan. Last time, when Scion fought and drove Leviathan off, he took off one of its limbs. For some reason, that wound hasn't regenerated, even if everything else has. Everyone else moved away from the Beast, but I stood my ground. Point of fact, I stood on top of a building, roughly centered in the wave. I spoke two words, "**[Analysis] [Comparison]**"

**HP: 700**

**Str: 60** **Dex: 80** **End: 70** **Int: 5** **Wis: 3**

**Status Effect: Disarmed- Scion's final attack took one of the Beasts limbs, and even now its regeneration is being negated.]**

**[Rimuru Tempest (Lv72)** **Heart Seeker**

**HP: 1140**

**Str: 61** **Dex: 76** **End: 64** **Int: 18** **Wis: 20**

**Points to Spend: 213]**

And this, is the absurdity allowed by the Gamer and Charles Atlas Superpowers. Not to mention the skills that it gives, and the conceptual nature of the power. Hm, I've already reached the point that I can no longer train my stats to any decent degree, so I'll just spend some points. 14 to Dex, 11 to End, and 9 to Str. That leaves me with 179 points left over.

**[Skills**

**Breathing without Air (LvMAX): you no longer need to breath to survive. Evolved from Holding Breath**

**Swimming (LvMax): you can swim through any physical material with no loss of speed.**

**Legendary Weapons Mastery (LvMAX): your skill with a weapon possesses no equal. With a suitable edge, you can cut through mountains, split the seas, and nothing can pose the slightest resistance to the edge of your blade. A blunter weapon will crush all defenses, and carry the weight of mountains with each swing. Evolved from Mythical Weapons Mastery]**

"Sever the seas, Aranrúth." With these words, I brought my sword out of the sheath, and swung from the ground up. I didn't want to cut the building in half as well, after all. And sever the seas it did. The massive wave that was about to hit the city, parted and crashed to the ground on either side. Even Leviathan couldn't quite dodge in time, getting half his tail cut off from the rest.

As the rest of the Capes currently protecting the city gapped at what I had done, I ran at the living natural disaster. While **[3D Maneuvering] **has never allowed me to fly, I still could walk on the platforms it gave me. Not really a platform, more just making it a fact that I can stand on empty space. My run had me stopping just short of the Beast, and I waited for it to make the first move. It took the offer, and swiped at me with the forelimb that hadn't been removed by Scion.

Its claws broke on the mask that covers my face. That same mask was made the same as my sword, after all.

**[Anti-Demon Mask: a simple mask of cloth and metal, this in no way detracts from its defensive attributes. A perfect defense, as it does not truly follow physics. Any attack that hits is completely negated, with the attacker taking the damage it would have dealt due to the impossibility**

**Aranrúth: the perfect sword. The greatest weapon to have ever been created, nonetheless unadorned and simple. A wooden handle, surrounding a spine of steel. The blade, guard, and spine are made of one continuous pieces of metal. The sharpest blade that exists, and a blade that cannot be worn down or broken**

**Raiment of Tempest: the costume worn by the Hero Tempest. It is made using his hair as the thread of the cloth, and shares his durability]**

These are what I had prepared for this fight. Any one of these would turn a normal person into a nearly unstoppable opponent, in this world, and they are the reason I could say with certainty that I will be coming out of this fight the winner. Perhaps, in worlds other than Worm, with more characters the likes of Scion, these wouldn't be as potent. But this is a low-powered setting, and power isn't what works here. That is why, for the last major threat to be destroyed, I will send Leviathan off to wherever these creatures go when they die in a manner befitting the work of Wildblow.

So saying, I jumped at the Beast, and slipped inside his many layers. Using my **[Swimming]** skill, I found his core. As in canon, instead of the common misconception of fanfiction, his core is located inside his chest rather than the base of his tail. And with the perfect, yet simple sword that is Aranrúth, split his core in half. Saying a prayer for all who have lost their lives to these creatures and their creators, I swam back out of Leviathan's body, and started walking back to the city I call my home.

**[New Title unlocked**

**Titan Slayer: deal 100% more damage to enemies as large or larger than a building]**

As the body of the now dead natural disaster turned gray and flaky, dispersing into the wind behind me, I spoke one sentence into the communicator on my arm. "Leviathan down, CD-4."

XXXXX

There were still things that had to be done, in the wake of the death of the last Endbringer. This is literally the Endbringer battle with the least casualties ever, the only death being the Endbringer itself. There may have been car crashes when the sirens first started sounding the alarm, but there weren't even any deaths from that.

And now the press, and people in general, were very interested in talking to and about the only cape to ever defeat an Endbringer, other than Scion. And he has disappeared, so they were quite rabid about it until I agreed. For my part? I was going to reveal just about everything that has to do about my own secrets in regards to the Wormverse.

The first question asked of me was one that I had expected, and am perfectly content with answering. "You say your power is just 'learning skill faster and beyond what humans are capable of' but it can't possibly be that simple! What is your real power?!"

I smiled, as I am so wont to do, even if it is a tired smile. "You are somewhat correct. My power calls itself 'The Gamer.' What it does is turn me into an RPG character, and subject to the same rules as they are.

That means my life is governed by stats, skills, levels, experience, quests, titles, and my health bar.

I started out with six inbuilt skills. One that was the source of my powers, another that made my mind immune to crippling emotion, or at least when it would cripple me to have strong emotion. One that was responsible for my extreme growth rate when learning skills. One that made it so my luck would be very extreme and help me survive, to the point that I could walk out of Ellisburg after killing hundreds of Nilbog's goblins and not be noticed leaving. One that makes me immune to anything that suppresses or copies my power, and another that made me immune to Thinker powers and was supposed to hid my identity.

The identity bit didn't work because of that PRT person leaking the picture, but my Thinker immunity would have worked even on the Simurgh. It is a law of reality, due to my power, that I am immune to any Thinker power other than getting picked up by enhanced senses and things like that. I was never given magic like you would see in most RPG settings, but this worked out just fine, did it not?"

The reporter was speechless for a minute, before clearing her throat and finding the words to respond. "Yes, I'd say you are correct. But you only told us what it called itself, and explained some of your skills. Will you say anything more about it?"

I giggle. Curse this 10-year-old body! It is making me more feminine! "Sure. I've already told you about my Skills, anything a human can do, and then better. Quests are just tasks that I can complete for Experience and other rewards. One such reward was my **[Blacksmithing] **skill, that I got from a quest where the goal was to escape Ellisburg. At this point, I can create things like that sword that I used to cut the Leviathan's tsunami in half. That sword cannot be stopped by anything, and cannot be broken. Its full potential can only be brought out by someone with **[Legendary Weapon Mastery]**, another skill of mine. With the right weapon, I can cut through mountains and part the seas. Aranrúth is that weapon. Even Alexandria would pose no resistance to the edge of the blade. Again, it is a law of reality. There is no way block it. I also have a skill to figure out how the stats of even a creature like Leviathan compare to mine. That should be a good enough example of my powers effect on skills."

This time it took a lot longer for the reporter to pick their jaw of the ground. Yet I continued on with my explanations. "Experience is used to level up. The level of someone is an indication of how strong they are. Leviathan, for example, was level 90. My level is 72, but the skills I have and the weapons I created, not to mention the fact that Leviathan's intelligence was only 5, meant I am far stronger than he was. I could train to increase my stats, which are the measure of someone's abilities in a certain field, and spent stat points to increase those same numbers. Leviathan had a Dexterity score of 80, for example, which is the measure of how fast and nimble someone is, and was his highest stat. I gain three stat points every level, and the first time I used any of them was during that fight. I am now just as fast, a bit more durable, and stronger than he was. Leveling the field, and then I rushed in and killed him before he could actually do much to fight back.

The health bar is how much damage I can take before getting killed, and other than special skills I gain from having a stat reach a benchmark every 50 points, will always be ten times my Endurance stat. Health regeneration is 1% of my total health regained every minute, plus 0.1% for every point in Endurance above 1. Oh, yeah, the peak of human stats in any category, that is what any human being can achieve without powers or armor or drugs to increase them, are set at 10 for all stats. And these stats don't increase linearly, but nor is it exponential.

And finally, we have Titles. These are simply my power recognizing certain achievements and rewarding me for them, other than quests. I gained **[Titan Slayer] **from killing Leviathan, which allows me to deal 100% more damage to anything as large or larger than a building. And that's everything that I have on my power. Very much suited to long term preparation, and very overpowered once you get to a certain point."

I had to wait a good long while for the brains of... everyone around me, actually, to reboot. It was very funny, but we couldn't wait around all day. Snapping them out of it, we continued on with the interview. "Well then, since you're now apparently the next strongest Cape behind Scion, do you know what happened to him? And aren't you afraid someone will be able to do something about your power, now that you told us everything about it?"

I snorted at the ridiculous question. "Really? _Do something about my power? _There are easier ways to try and kill off the universe, rather than directly altering reality to kill me. No, the easiest way to kill me is still to just deplete my health, which is a general strategy for anyone you want to kill anyway. And Scion? He died, in a way. Those dramatic displays of power that he kept making drained the energy he lived off of. In fact, I myself will disappear, 10 years after when I first arrived. I may one day be able to come back, but I have no choice other than to leave this planet. Maybe I die before then, maybe some idiot destroys the planet and everything on it, but by the time ten years from my arrival is up, I will be gone to somewhere else."

XXXXX

After that interview, I just lived my life for the next nine years and eleven months. I was happy. My parents had another child, and a lot of the tragedies of Worm never happened. Cauldron still existed, but they stopped so morally corrupt. They didn't need to be anymore, after all. Their goal was accomplished, and their reward was to fade from history, never having left their mark. I got to see so many of my friends and family grow up, find their own families, and settle down.

I never settled down with anyone myself, not willing to hurt someone like that when I knew that my fate in this world was to disappear. But I was fine with that. If my fate is to have another adventure on another world, I can accept that. Most settings have magic, or some equivalent, I'm sure I can find my way back someday.

**Finished**

**XXXXX**

**And that's the end of this story. As I've said before, the goal of this story wasn't to be some monster of thousands upon thousands of words. I am happy with what I have created, and I do have a general plan for the sequel. This story is everything I wanted it to be, and more than I expected. Some of the chapters are shorter than what I try for, but they end where they should, and that makes them work better than forcing them to be longer. This is my first completed story, and by far my favorite of all the ones I have both posted and made, because there are several ideas I've had that I haven't posted. Goodbye all, and may I see you in the next story.**


End file.
